Category: From Our Fathers Heart

“Few of My children really remember who they are when they are in need. If they did, they would never be in fear, never turn to the world’s systems; and never use their own resources to overcome challenges that come their way. I am, however, raising you up as an honorable representation of My Word. I am refining and perfecting you to look nothing like those around you and care nothing for the empty and shallow promises the world has to offer.

“You, My lovely mirrors of Jesus, will have borne the brunt of scorn and ridicule, received the scars of chastisement and rejection; and labored under the weight of judgment from your peers before you come home to Me. You will have learned to find solace only from Me as you toil in the gardens of those who either refuse to or are unable to toil for themselves. You will be familiar with the pains of the wounded, the fears of the children, and the savage treatment of the martyr because of your heart of integrity that weeps for the needy.

“Walking the road of life alone except for My presence, your most familiar direction will be towards Me as you carry afflictions on behalf of those too weak and frail to carry them for themselves. You may not be pretty by the world’s standards but in My eyes, you are a wonder to behold. I call you beautiful. I call you glorious. I call you Mine.”

John 26:33 AMP

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

2 Cor. 2:14-16a AMP

14) But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere.

15) For we are the sweet fragrances of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:

16a) To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh].

Gal. 4:19a NIV

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…

 

In every generation throughout history, there has always been a small core group that followed hard after God. Most of their names are unrecognizable by the world. Few of them have done anything of note to be remembered in history books or the chronicles of nations.

The patterns of their lives run in a different direction than the well-worn path toward success, heading 90 degrees from notoriety and 180 degrees from sin. In some circles, they are called foolish, ridiculous, and stupid, having no earthly good. In God’s circles, they are called holy and esteemed as a prepared bride.

You and I would do well to study the life patterns of those people who have patterned themselves after Jesus. We would do well to find the kind of moxie that it takes to set aside all of our longings for comfort and wake up to the fact that Jesus doesn’t reside there. He never has and He never will. He will never be found with the weak but pretty church, the heralded entrepreneur, or the highly praised world system. He will be found working with the hopeless and needy, the broken failure, the desperate, and those with no real answers for their lives, telling them of a better way.

Jesus is our example of living. His life has been birthed in each of us who have called out to Him. His heart is our guiding light to success as God sees success. What will never be found in the world will easily be found in the quiet embrace of His love.

Help me follow only You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“You’ve sought wise counsel, you’ve waited for My heart, you’ve made your decision - now stand. Wait for My plan to unfold in your trial. Rest in Me. There is nothing that you can do but get in the way of My perfect plan if you keep trying to control your situation. Move when I tell you to move. Rest when I call you to Me. Trust those I have sent your way to help you. I will work through them. You come to Me. You spend the time with Me while I win the battle for you. No matter how dark it may look from your perspective, your time with Me will reveal My perspective to you. Take this time to really know My heart. One day, you will see how I have delivered you.”

II Chr. 20:15b AMP

The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Phil. 4:1 AMP

THEREFORE, My brethren, whom I love and yearn to see, my delight and crown (wreath of victory), thus stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

…for He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)!  [Assuredly not!]

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

The refining fires of the Lord have begun in earnest for the remnant believer. I am convinced that they will get hotter and hotter to remove everything from us that does not serve the Lord. If you are going through times that are requiring you to need the Lord as much as you ever have, or maybe as never before, you are in company with many, many people all across the land. Everywhere, good, honest believers - those who have committed everything to the Lord - have been placed in positions they cannot control. They need God! Merry and I often hear the phrase, “If God doesn’t deliver me, I am not going to make it.”

Take heart. God is getting any desire for the world and all of its trappings out of you and me. Temptations that once could have allowed compromise in our hearts are being burned from us. False idols are being shown for their worthlessness. Angels of light are falling under the intense light of the Holy Spirit and are being exposed for who they really are. Fair weather friends are being revealed. We are being taken back to first love. The fire must burn away all of those things that have hidden the truth of the cross from us for so long. It is a much-needed work. Embrace it and hunker down with the Lord. He is in this with you.

I need You now, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Storm clouds are gathering, and you are not ready. You go about your business as if things will remain comfortable for you forever. They will not! You will need to be stronger in Me than you are. I will need to call upon you in times when only My Word will make sense. Blind obedience to Me will be your only place of safety. Most of you are planning for a war in the flesh. I want you to plan for intimacy. I want you to plan for a wedding with My Son. Then the same heart that took Him to the cross will be in you. I will be able to trust you. I will be able to use you. You will be ready for anything, even a wedding.”

Gal.2:20 AMP

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Phil.2:12b-13 AMP

12b) …work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

13) [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Hebrews 10:14 NIV

because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

 

We are so short-sighted that we separate God’s way as if He had many agendas. He has one plan - that none should perish. If we follow that, we will pursue His heart. If we pursue His heart, we will gain the heart of Jesus. If we gain the heart of Jesus, He will be able to use us in His plans. We also will be ready for Jesus when He comes. We will be looking for Him and looking like Him.

The Holy Spirit is wooing the church of Jesus Christ to prepare as a bride would prepare for a coming wedding of hearts. Through trials, tribulations, and extreme challenges, He is posturing each of us to get our priorities straight.

By leading us to the end of ourselves and placing a new hope in those who will listen, He is calling us to set aside all of the ways of the world and embrace the ways of Jesus as our only reason for living. In doing so, we will be prepared for His coming and able to overcome the hazards that are soon to come our way.

Help me to remember Your priorities, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you really understand that when I say that My ways are far above your ways, it is for your good? When you function in the ways that you understand as powerful, you are on your enemies’ turf, and you can never win. That is why the world is losing. It thinks that it is powerful, but it has already been defeated just like its father has.

“I am your Father. Jesus is your Lord. My Holy Spirit moves in absolute truth. We function in eternal truth. Our ways win. Why do you continue to function in lower ways than Ours? Move from the carnal into the spiritual. That is where you are being trained to function. That is where you will win forever from now on, if you submit to My ways. They are high above your ways.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

John 8:42-47 NIV

42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own: but he sent me.

43) Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

44) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45) Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

46) Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47) He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

 

Satan loves to keep us functioning on his terms and in his ways. Our loving Father, on the other hand, has rescued us from that hopeless fate through Jesus. Jesus has overcome the world and has provided a way for us to rise above all that is untrue because of what he has done.

Why, then, are we so block-headed? What is it that we don’t understand about the truth that says we no longer need to function where we always lose and have no hope of ever winning? God has provided a better way. You would think we would get it! Duh!

Help me to really get it, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“When I call you to birth a needed work for Me, you are at war. You are pushing aside the kingdom of darkness and making room for My light to cause havoc in the spiritual realm. You are setting the stage for imbedded bondages to be broken in others. You are building platforms for others to walk closer to Me. Until you understand the intensity of what is being accomplished, you will wonder what kind of trial has beset you. Those around you will not understand the weight of what you are going through. At times, it will seem as if even I have left you. It may seem that I do not hear your prayers. That is not so.

“Making way for My kingdom is violent warfare in the heavenlies. Much is being accomplished that cannot be seen by you or by others. Few of the real desires of My heart are being carried out because My people are unwilling to pay what it costs them to overcome, especially paying the price for others. Do not give up. Wait on Me. I am with you. Many will be set free to follow Me with all of their hearts because of your willingness to remain steadfast when there seems to be no end to the season you are in. Once your task is given My life, you will rejoice. I will be able to say, “Well done.” Do it for Me. Do it for others. It is what Jesus has done and would do. It is the way of the cross!”

Haggai 1:7-10 AMP

7) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways (your previous and present conduct) and how you have fared.

8) Go up to the hill country, and bring lumber and rebuild [My] house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord [by accepting it as done for My glory and by displaying My glory in it].

9) You looked for much [harvest], and behold, it came to little; and even when you brought that home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house, which lies waste while you yourselves run each man to his own house [eager to build and adorn it].

10) Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce.

Matthew 11:12 NIV

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

Matt.16:19  AMP

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth, must be whatever is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

Gal. 4:19 NIV

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...

 

One of the most misunderstood and yet one of the most foundational forms of prayer is waiting on God. The simplest definition of waiting on God would be a continual life devotion to God and an immovable expectation and awareness that He will intervene in your life.

There was no separation between the life of Jesus and the life of His Father in heaven. He did nothing of Himself, and more importantly, He wanted to do nothing of Himself. He had placed His life as an offering before His Father, so the Father could do with it as He pleased.

With that heart position, His life became a continual prayer. The perfect will of His Father in the heavenly (spiritual) realm became manifested in the physical realm unhindered. As the perfect vessel, Jesus imparted the very nature of His Father to the world.

Today, “waiting on God” is our portion of that kind of life, whether for our own needs or on behalf of someone else. As we devote ourselves to our heavenly Father, wanting only His will as our life’s purpose, we become the same kind of vessel to accomplish His will to be “done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Waiting for the will of the Father to be revealed to us and then waiting for it to be accomplished through us is truly the blessed life. Think of it!  In our everyday, ordinary occurrences that we call “life,” we are actually conduits for the will of God to be accomplished through us. All we need do is listen and follow as our only purpose for living.

I am willing to pay the price, Lord,

Jim Corbett